Studios Shuffle Oscar Hopefuls

Grown Ups 2‘s Oscar chances just got a whole lot better. Okay, not really. But the field does appear to be thinning out as some studios have opted to delay prestigious awards-bait titles. First, The Weinstein Company announced that Nicole Kidman‘s royal vehicle Grace of Monaco would be held until after the New Year. Then Sony Pictures Classics decided on its own push to 2014, moving the Steve Carell/Channing Tatum wrestling drama Foxcatcher from its December premiere. The biggest calendar adjustment, however, could come from Paramount, which is exploring the option of delaying Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) from Nov. 15 to December, or even into next year, reportedly to trim its three-hour running time. (In decidedly non-Oscar news, if Wolf does land in December, Paramount will likely have to move its Chris Pine action reboot Jack Ryan: Shadow One from Dec. 25 into early 2014.) It’s a testament to the strength of this year’s awards-season slate that studios are jockeying for prime opening slots. And hey, at least we’ll have more to look forward to next year.